TARPON SPRINGS -- Health
officials are looking for a man who
helped a woman fend off an attack by
a possibly rabid raccoon Thursday to
make sure he is treated for the potentially
fatal disease.

Although it is unknown
if raccoon was rabid when it attacked
the woman and her dog between noon and
1 p.m. Thursday at Anderson Park in
Palm Harbor, treatment is recommended.

"There's a certain
period of time after somebody has potentially
been exposed to a rabid animal where
they need prophylaxis for rabies,"
said Dr. Julia Gill, an epidemiologist
with the health department. "This
is kind of unusual where we can't find
the person.

"Apparently nobody
took this guy's name, and we don't even
have a description; so we're trying
to move on this and trying to do what
we can to make sure that he's received
medical attention," Gill said.
The woman did not want to be identified,
Gill said.

The rabies virus is
transmitted through saliva and infects
the brain, causing changes in behavior.
It can infect all mammals and is almost
always fatal if left untreated.

The woman was walking
her dog along the boardwalk at Anderson
Park in when the raccoon attacked the
dog and bit the woman.

"It was a rather
vicious attack," Gill said. "It
was bloody."

The woman was on the
ground, fighting off the raccoon, when
a man approached and "wrestled
with the raccoon and saved them and
pulled the raccoon off the woman and
the dog," Gill said.

The raccoon got away
and apparently so did the man. After
emergency personnel arrived to help
the woman, she looked around to thank
the man and realized he wasn't there.
A witness said the man got into his
car with his family and left, Gill said.

County officials announced
this week plans to spread bait that
contains rabies vaccine and trap raccoons
that might be carriers. Raccoons are
the primary land-based carriers of rabies
in Florida, but any warm-blooded animal
can contract rabies from a raccoon.

The county's decision
comes after two people were bitten by
rabid raccoons this summer.

Anyone with information
about the man's identity should call
the Pinellas County Health Department
at 824-6900.